You have three midterms next Tuesday, you’re three days late on rent and your mom won’t stop calling you about that post you made on Instagram last Saturday night.
Things are getting a bit difficult.
You thought studying in the library would make things better, but the sea of voices is more like white noise. Even the table you’re sitting at seems like a soft pillow at this point. You’ve gotten too used to taking naps in the lounge chairs on the second floor of Library West; they almost feel like your second home.
The fact that you’re absolutely exhausted at 2 p.m. doesn’t help either. You shouldn’t be struggling to keep your eyes open, but you can’t help but feel comfort in the way your friends are talking about dogs. You really wish you were petting a dog right now.
Before you drift off, a group next to yours starts laughing loudly about something they drew on the whiteboard. Instantly, you’re back in the world of the living.
One of your friends stops talking and points in the direction of the board. First, you see an outdated picture of Spongebob that shouldn’t be funny anymore.
Underneath it you see...
Darts and Laurels
This week, it’s mostly laurels. There are a lot of bad things happening on campus right now, so the Alligator Editorial Board decided to shine some light on the people who are doing good.
Although we won’t be blessed with new music anytime soon, Rihanna still deserves a laurel for supporting Colin Kaepernick and officially announcing why she turned down the halftime show at this year’s Super Bowl. The queen goes on to give President Donald Trump a fire diss about the state of his mental health; we just wish she’d incorporate it into her music.
Another laurel has to go to “Sesame Street” for incorporating a new Muppet named Karli who has a mother struggling with opioid abuse. According to the Guardian, 5.7 million children under the age of 11 live in households with a parent that had a substance abuse disorder. Thank you, Karli, for highlighting an issue most people aren’t familiar with and for doing something about it.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner is doing something for the underrepresented as well. On Wednesday, he successfully exonerated his 10th prisoner of this year: Willie Veasy. Thursday, Veasy walked out of prison a free man after being unjustly imprisoned for 27 years. The district attorney gets a laurel for combating the unjust convictions of our corrupt prison system.
Here at UF, we like to fight corruption too.
This Thursday, we had the “privilege” of having Donald Trump Jr. come to speak for us, alongside his girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, who also happens to be the president’s senior adviser within his re-election campaign. Although we were told that this event wouldn’t be part of the campaign, it’s hard to believe when UF Student Government pays for someone nobody asked for.
The last laurel has to go to the #CHOMPTRUMP organizers who put together the rally. A lot of time, consideration and compassion goes into creating these kinds of events, but it’s also important to be patient, caring and compassionate toward people as well. We can’t stop bigotry from being heard, but maybe we can stop it before its created in the first place.
But before we forgive those who hate, we have to give a dart to Donald Trump Jr. for his and his family’s history of racism and lack of compassion for people of color and other minorities. Not only is it insulting that we have to listen to the third most politically inept Trump (as he slightly beats his younger half-brother Barron), but we have to deal with the atmosphere of intolerance and tension that comes with him as well.
Gracias por venir, Trumpito. Esperamos que no volvamos a ver a su familia aquí o en la Casa Blanca nunca más.
The Editorial Board consists of Zora Viel, Opinions Editor; Amanda Rosa, Editor-in Chief; Kelly Hayes, Digital Managing Editor; and Tranelle Maner, Engagement Managing Editor.
